Time
Management
Presenter:
Peter G. Raeth, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer – ICT Fellow
School of Engineering Sciences and Technology
Department of ICT and Electronics
Chinhoyi University of Technology
praeth@cut.ac.zw
Sources Gathered and Integrated
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Ruslan Suvorov, Department of Linquistics. Bernie Anding, Department of Chemistry.
Iowa State University, http://www.celt.iastate.edu/pdfs-docs/uts/Time_Management_Anding.ppt
Tracy Laycock, Center for Community Living and Careers, Indiana University,
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/CCLC/IU_IIDC_Time_Management_and_Organizational_Skills.ppt
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Career Development Center, Student Services, Upper Grand School Board. Guelph, Ontario, Canada
http://www.ugdsb.on.ca/uploadedFiles/odss/guidance/Time%20Management%20Presentation.ppt
Dionne S. Dávila, Tomás Rivera Center, University of Texas
https://utsa.edu/trcss/resources/Time%20Management.ppt
Residential Life, University of Massachusetts
http://www.housing.umass.edu/pdf/employ/student_staff/Time%20Management.ppt
About the presenter …
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CUT Senior Lecturer and ICT Fellow
Visiting from the United States this semester
Degrees in Engineering, Ph.D. Computer Science
Teaching fuzzy logic / neural networks
Also distributed systems
35 successful years in industry, and still going
Specialty: computational science, research engineering
Certified Career Development Facilitator (NCDA)
– http://informationanthology.net/CareerMentor
Slides for this presentation, plus other material
http://InformationAnthology.net/StudentTransitionWorkshop
What we will touch on
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What it takes to succeed in any endeavor
Definition of time management
Why we should bother with this topic
Setting goals
Prioritization
Scheduling
Overcoming obstacles, interruptions, procrastination
Achieving
Success
PRODUCE
STUDY
A strong
performance ethic
is essential
WORK
LEARN
What is time management
• Time management refers to the development of
processes and tools that increase a person’s
efficiency and productivity
• Time management does not “just happen”
– it is a skill that must be worked on
– most people find it to be a life-long challenge
• Managing your time well gives you the opportunity
to exercise a strong performance ethic
Why bother?
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Get your school work done and achieve good grades
Keep a job while going to school
Maintain your mental and physical health
Invest in and keep good relationships with others
You will benefit
The goal of time management is to find a balance
among all the things you need and want to do.
Time Management and You
• You have to be effective and efficient
– use time wisely
– make progress
– get things accomplished
• Not enough to study, you have to learn
• Not enough to work, you have to produce
• Learning must happen before you can
become productive
Today we are learning how to manage time
so that we can be productive in our efforts
Benefits
• Time management helps you get the most out of
your education
• Allows you to be better prepared for life’s demands
– therefore decreases anxiety
• Helps you to assign time to tasks in proportion to
their importance
– improves your focus
• Helps you achieve a more balanced life
– family, friends, colleagues, faculty, staff
• Makes you a more productive, successful person
– brings efficiency and effectiveness
• Helps avoid spreading yourself too thin
How good is your time
management?
• Five facets to time management:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Goal setting
Prioritization
Scheduling
Putting interruptions in their place
Overcoming procrastination
Goal Setting
• Benefits of goals:
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achievements
accomplishments
no more “daily grind”
no more running in a
squirrel cage
– you chase the bear,
the bear does not
chase you
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/bear-chase.jpg
Goal Setting
• Start big, then set smaller goals
designed to achieve the large goal
• For example:
– Overall goal: successful course project
• literature search
• discuss with committee
• select topic
• additional literature search
• plan work schedule
• conduct work
• write report and presentation
• give presentation
• close project
Prioritization
Not Important
Important
• You will always have something to do
• Make sure what you do is the most important
thing toward achieving your goals
Urgent
Not Urgent
I
Important
and
Urgent
II
Important ,
but
Not Urgent
III
Urgent,
but
Not Important
IV
Not Urgent
and
Not Important
Prioritization
• Quadrant I
– immediate attention required
• Quadrant II
– requires attention, but not yet critical
• Quadrant III
– nice to do if you get the time
• Quadrant IV
– these activities are time wasters
Prioritization
• Make “To Do” Lists
• Seems funny but this is exactly what I do
Prioritization
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Make Prioritized “To Do” Lists:
1) write down all the things you have or want to do
2) grade them category I, II, III, IV
• be honest with yourself
• don’t forget time to rest and have fun
3) follow the list doing Category I first
4) make sure what is important gets done well
Prioritization
YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT COMPLETE YOUR
“TO DO” LIST IN ANY ONE DAY
… do not get frustrated
… do not try to cram too much into one day
Plan your work, then work your plan
… your “to-do” list is your criteria
… assess your tasks – are you making progress
… plan for the unplanned
… no plan survives reality – plans must evolve over time
… but, no plan leads to no success
Obstacles happen
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Recognize that obstacles exist
Identify them
Employ strategies to overcome them
Overcome obstacles
Do not be overcome by obstacles
Scheduling
• Now you have goals and priorities…
– create a schedule to keep on track
– this is an important part of planning
• Covey Theory: Imagine jar filled with rocks
– large rocks, medium rocks, small rocks, sand
– category I priorities are the large rocks
– once jar is filled with large rocks put in
medium rocks
– further empty space can hold small rocks
– then maybe some sand
– do not fill your jar with sand – busy with no meaning
Scheduling
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In practice:
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Make daily schedules:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
identify the time you have available
block out time for Category I activities
leave time for distractions
fill in spare time with Category II activities
then Category III and IV
• Use planners or other tools if they help
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but, do not get carried away by tools’ details
just use them to facilitate your efforts
Use your prime time well
• When are you at your best?
– morning?
– evening?
– late night?
• Do your Category I tasks at that time
• You will tend to get your best results
Scheduling
• Don’t forget to schedule
* BREAKS!!!
* FUN!!!
* SLEEP!!!
• Nobody is a machine
• Makes you more efficient in the long run
Managing Interruptions and Distractions
• Try to minimize
interruptions and
distractions
• These take you
away from what is
important and
critical
• Yet, some
interruptions are
part of the job
• You must judge and
react accordingly
Managing Interruptions
• Tips:
– Rate the urgency of interruptions
– Set “available” and “unavailable” time
• if you have regular interrupters,
schedule meetings with them
– Learn to say “no”
• or at least limit the time you give to
these interruptions
“NO”
The most important word
in your time management vocabulary
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You can’t do everything
Don’t undertake things you can’t complete
Remain consistent with your goals
Don’t be dragged away by the unnecessary
Don’t be inhibited by minimalists
Don’t fall into lowest common denominator trap
Don’t be fooled into thinking that your success
leads to someone else’ failure
Procrastination
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The most obvious waste of time
Know yourself
Employ self-discipline
Tips:
– do tedious chores immediately before they pile up
– avoid unnecessary perfectionism
– scheduling helps you get motivated
More Tips
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Limit Internet use for non-academic purposes
Disable email notification pop-ups
Avoid sitting at the computer all the time
Change study/work locations:
– classroom, lab, library, outside table, cafe
• Turn off or silence your cell phone
• Work and study with a partner who can
prevent you from getting distracted
Warning signs
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Handing in work late
Submitting work not up to your usual standard
Forgetting commitments
Finding that you often do not have enough time
to complete a task
Making excuses for why work is not done
Having to let go of activities you enjoy because
of a lack of time or low grades
Asking faculty for extensions regularly on
submitting your work
Your grades do not reflect your ability
Crisis management not a solution
• Lots of people fall into “crisis management” traps
• Do not let this happen to you
• Crisis management (fire fighting) deals only with
the moment, not with future potential
Crisis Management
vs.
Time Management
“I wish I had more time”
“My mark reflected the time
spent”
“I know I’ll get a bad mark”
“I’ll get a good mark”
“I don’t want to see my grade”
“I can hardly wait to see my
mark!”
“Everyone will do better than I will”
“I feel good about myself and
my work”
Summary
• Time management is a skill that EVERYONE must
work on in all areas of their life
– personal, academic, work, community efforts
• Successful time management requires
self-evaluation and the desire to improve
• Effective time management will require you to
do things you don’t want to do when you don’t
want to do them
– you have to push yourself while maintaining balance
• The pay-off of good time management is ALWAYS
worth the effort
– enables success with difficult undertakings
A Quiz for You to Try
See how well attuned you are
with time management
Quiz 1 .. 6
1. Do you estimate how many hours you need to
study each week?
2. Do you meet assignment deadlines?
3. Do you begin working on semester-long projects
early in the semester?
4. Do you write a daily “to do” list?
5. Do you prevent social activities from interfering
with your study time?
6. Do you have a job that requires fewer than 10
hours a week?
Quiz 7 .. 10
7. Do you set specific goals for each study period?
8. Do you begin your study time with your most
difficult subject/assignment?
9. Do you complete most of your studying during your
most productive hours of each day?
10. Do you treat being a full-time student like a full
time job?
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For every “Yes”, give yourself 1 point.
Tally the total number of points you received.
Interpreting Your Score
• If you scored 8-10 you are doing well managing your
time. Maybe you need to change one or two things.
• If you scored 5-7 you are average and have some
good time management skills, but clearly need
some more help.
• If you scored 1-4 you should get a plan together
for how you want to address these issues. You
certainly would benefit from time management.
OpenSource Tools
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Five OpenSource project planning tools (article)
http://opensource.com/business/14/1/top-project-management-tools-2014
11 OpenSource project management tools (article)
http://www.dreamcss.com/2009/08/11-open-source-project-management-tools.html
Day Planner
http://www.day-planner.org
Day planning and other similar tools
http://open.software.informer.com/download-open-source-day-planner-calendar-alarm-notes